


The Mute Boy's Lullaby

by dersiteprince



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AO3 1 Million, Action, Alternate Universe, Build up, Fluff, Jealousy, Kismesistude, M/M, Matespritship, Muteness, Sign Language, angst later on, hinted crushes, sadstuck later on, why is figuring out tags so hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2017-12-05 19:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dersiteprince/pseuds/dersiteprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Dave Strider and you're beginning to go to Public School for the first time in the eight years of your life. Everything's going to be different now, especially since Bro is changing his ways - teaching you the ways of how to be a Strider. Are you up for the challenge?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**== > Become a Strider**

         Your name is Dave Strider and today is your first day of elementary school. You are eight years old and going into third grade. This is a bit different for you because you are so used to being homeschooled by your brother.

“Don’t worry, little man,” your brother tells you as he walks you to your class. “Just stay calm, everything will be alright.” He smiles at you, ruffling your hair.

“But, Bro,” You whine, beginning to pout. “Why can’t you just homeschool me like you usually do?”

“I told you this before, Dave, we don’t have the money for it.” Bro sounds wistful before he gets down on one knee, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Tell you what. If you have an awesome day at school and don’t throw a fit, I’ll take you to go get ice cream. Alright?”

Your eyes light up behind the too large triangular shades you wear on your face. You nod eagerly, making Bro chuckle.

“Go on, then.” He says as he shoos you away and into the class. You look back at him and he nods for you to go on. With a gulp, you continue to walk in. Some of the children already seated amongst their friends see you and instantly begin whispering to one another. You try to ignore it as you push the shades up on your nose.

Your platinum blond hair is cut short, curling slightly at the tips around your ears. Your bangs are cut short as well, swept to the left of your face. Freckles litter your cheeks and nose, the tips of your ears. You're small for your age, but that’s fine with you; Bro always tells you that once you have a growth spurt, you won’t be so little anymore.

You walk up to the teacher, and tug on her hand. She’s wearing a black skirt that goes to her thighs and a white, button up blouse. Her eyes are a dark chocolate brown, the same color of her hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail. She smiles at you.

“Hello, there. You must be new.” She coos, kneeling down in front of you. “I’m Ms. Pepper. What’s your name?”

“Dave Strider,” You mumble, kicking the carpet with your foot.

“What a handsome name!” She declares, making a few students look over at the two of you. Ms. Pepper hands you a few papers for you to give to Bro and have him sign then shows you to your seat.

“You’ll sit here for now, until I make a proper seating chart.” Ms. Pepper nods to herself, lightly tapping her chin with a well-manicured finger. “There is _one_ problem though, Dave.”

You look up at her, confused at what she means. She taps the side of head, as if to indicate something, but you don’t quite understand. Seeing this, she says, “Your shades. You’re not allowed to wear them in class, I’m afraid.”

A few kids snigger, but instantly hush after they get a stern look from Ms. Pepper. You feel your cheeks heat up as you feel the stares of a few kids in your class. You shake your head.

“I have to wear them, Ms. Pepper,” Your voice is quiet; you didn’t want to be talking about this. You didn’t want to be _embarrassed_ like this on your first day. “My eyes are sensitive to the light and hurt when I don’t have them on.” Which was the truth.

“Hm... Well, all right. Just bring a doctor’s note tomorrow so I know you’re not lying.” She pats your shoulder lightly before walking back to her desk.

You sigh and sit down, taking out a folder and placing the papers you had been given in it. After doing that and shoving the folder back into your backpack, you feel someone tap your shoulder.

You see a girl with a short bob that curls around her ears, her hair jet black. She wore dark red glasses – even the lenses were tinted red to where you couldn’t see through them. She had red studs in her ears. The girl wore a bright red dress with frills on the ends and red shoes that looked a lot like the ones Dorothy from _The Wizard of Oz_ wore. Man, did she like red.

“I’m Terezi,” she grinned toothily at you, “You’re Dave, right?”

You nod. “Yeah.”

“I understand how you feel with the glasses thing.” She put in, taking the desk next to you. Even her backpack was red. Yeesh.

“You do?” You sound surprised, though you try to hide it (and fail terribly).

“Yep! You wanna know why?” Her voice had dropped to whisper as she leaned close to you. You felt a bit claustrophobic, but ignored it for the moment. You nod and she raises a hand to her glasses.

“I’ll show you, but on one condition, Mr. Strider,” She almost cackles.

“What is it?”

“You have to show me your eyes too! Got it?”

She held her other hand out to you, like she wanted to shake hands to confirm the deal. You hesitate for a moment, chewing on your bottom lip. Then you nod once again and shake her hand. This time she _does_ cackle, making a few of the other students glance at you two momentarily before looking back towards the board.

Once no one else but you is looking, she takes her glasses off. Her eyes are brown, but they’re a creamy and cloudy brown. Your eyes widen as you blink in surprise.

“You’re _blind_?” You ask, astounded. Terezi cackles once again before slipping her red glasses back on.

“Everyone reacts that way,” she replied with a content smile, “But yeah, I am. Now come on, it’s your turn!”

“But.... How are you supposed to see if you’re blind?” You ask, perplexed.

“My five other senses are heightened, dummy. I’ll be able to tell, don’t worry.” She reassures you, but you don’t feel reassured one bit. Frowning, you look around to make sure no one is looking before sliding off the shades.

“Oh my gosh!” She almost screeches and you look at her alarmed. “Your eyes are amazing _and_ they’re my favorite color!” She was squealing now.

You hurriedly put your shades back on. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“I won’t, hehehe.” Her snicker at the end doesn’t sound reassuring, but you trust her for some odd reason. “Don’t tell anyone I’m blind, okay?”

“I thought everyone knew already?” You raise your brows in question.

“Nope!” The blind girl replies cheerfully, pulling out crayons from her backpack. “They only know that I have bad eyesight.”

You nod as you understand what she is telling you. You look up at the teacher as she announces that today is a free day and you may do whatever you feel like, so long as it was nothing bad.

You turn back to Terezi, seeing she’s offering you a few crayons, smiling. “Wanna color with me?”

You nod, taking them with a smile, then scoot closer so you two can draw.

\--

Bro is there, waiting in front of the school after class is over and school is let out. You give Terezi a hug before hurrying over to him. He smiles at you.

“That your new girlfriend?” He teases you.

“No! She's just a friend!” Your cheeks turn red, making Bro snort.

“Alright, you little shit,” He wraps an arm around your shoulders as he walks with you to the apartment you live in, which is only a block or so down the street. “You’re growing up, it’s time I teach you some things.”

“Like how to cook?” You look up at him, but he shakes his head.

“Something all we Striders share – how to hold our own fights and how to be cool. You up for it?”

A grin breaks out across your face, “Hell yes!”

He looks at you, raising a brow as he hears you use the ‘H’ word. Your eyes widen behind your shades and you quickly look away. He simply messes up your hair.

“Learnin’ already.” He smiles at you as you look back up at him.

Once you two reach the apartment, he gives you a cup of apple juice. “Got any homework?” He asks as he sees you ruffling through your backpack. You nod and take out the papers that had been given to you by Ms. Pepper and hand them to him. He looks them over before quickly signing them and handing them back.

After you put your things back into your backpack and in your room, you’re suddenly pushed forward forcefully on to your bed, knocking the wind out of your chest.

“Always keep your guard up,” Bro chides as you spin on your heel and look at him. His face is emotionless, same triangular shaped shades on. His arms are crossed over his chest.

“What was that for! I never even said I was ready,” You say angrily, throwing your hands up in the air.

“You said you were ready when you agreed to become a Strider. Stop bein’ a wimp, Dave.” Bro placed a hand in the middle of your chest, pushing you back. This time, you were expecting it and steadied yourself, making it to where you were only pushed back slightly and not back on to the bed.

You give a triumphant grin, but Bro only smirks.

“There’s a lot for you to learn, little man.”

You look at him quizzically and in the time it took you to blink, he’s gone, no longer standing in front of you. You huff in frustration.

As you go to turn around, you're shoved forward, falling face first into the carpeted floor. You hear a mocking voice in your head, ‘ _Always keep your guard up.’_ With a groan, you pull yourself up, looking around cautiously.

You see a swift movement in the corner of the room. Bro was _flash stepping,_ the cheater! As you see the shadow of Bro draw closer, you quickly figure out a plan in your head.

Within seconds, he’s on you, but you’re ready for him this time. As he nears you, ready to push you down once again, you spin on your heel so you’re face-to-face. He looks at you surprised and you take the advantage. You push both your hands hard on his chest, moving him back just enough to make your move. As he loses his balance for a split second, you hold out a foot and make him trip. He falls hard on to his back, a loud ‘ _oof_!’ coming out of his mouth as the wind is knocked out of him.

“Shit,” he murmurs as he lifts his head up to look at you once he’s regained his breath. “You learn quick.”

You grin triumphantly once again and this time, Bro smiles back.

You were on your way to becoming a Strider.


	2. Chapter 2

**== > Come down with a cold**

It’s not every day you wake up with a sore throat and finding it hard to breathe.

You were breathing heavily, your throat burning each time you breathed or swallowed.

You closed your eyes for a moment, feeling a tickle in your throat. You try to hold it back, but it doesn’t help. You begin to cough, making your throat hurt even more.

When the fit subsides, you open your eyes. Bro wasn’t in the room, which meant he most likely hadn’t heard you coughing.

“Bro,” you manage to whine, tears quickly filling your eyes as the pain increases when you speak, pulling yourself into an upright sitting position. The pain was beginning to be unbearable.

Within a few split seconds, Bro was in the room, looking at you a bit worried. Though Striders rarely showed their emotions, this was an exception for two reasons. Reason a) you were still in training to learn how to not show emotions and b) you were sick.

“What’s wrong, little man?” He kneels down next to your bed.

“I don’t feel good, my throat hurts,” You manage to say before breaking into another coughing fit. Bro frowns, mulling something over silently in his head.

He stood up and walked out of the room momentarily. When he came back, a bag of cough drops was in his hand. He sat down on the edge of your bed, looking at you.

“Here,” He says as he gives you a handful of cough drops. You cup your hands together, accepting them gratefully. You set them in your lap, picking one up and opening it. You pop it in your mouth, beginning to suck on it. You close your eyes, the rawness in your throat beginning to soothe from the medicine that was in the cough drops. It was the good tasting kind too – the berries with cream flavor.

“Better?” Bro asks. You open your eyes and nod.

“It still hurts, though...” You almost whisper. Bro sighs, placing a hand on your back and rubbing soothingly.

“I’ll call and make you a doctor’s appointment. Until then, go back to sleep and rest.”

“But..what about school?” You look up at him and he shakes his head.

“You’re too sick to go right now, especially if you’re in this much pain.” There’s a pained note in your brother’s voice.

You nod and Bro gives you a quick hug before leaving the room, leaving the door cracked behind him. You migrate the cough drops from your lap to the nightstand beside your bed, and then lay back down. You pull the covers up under your chin.

You glance around your room for a bit. It was fairly clean, video game consoles and a TV shoved into the right end corner opposite of your bed. Posters were hanging up on the wall – some of your favorite video games or music artists. A dresser was by the closet, an alarm clock sitting on it. You look at the glowing read numbers on the clock; it was 6:30 AM.

You exhale a little, looking at the nightstand once again. There’s a small lamp that could easily be switched on and off, the pile of cough drops and your shades. On the wall, almost touching the floor was an outlet. Plugged into the outlet was a Spiderman nightlight. Yes, you were still afraid of the dark, but you were quickly outgrowing it, so shut up. And fuck you because Spiderman’s fucking awesome, regardless if it’s a nightlight version of him or not.

With another sigh, you turn over, closing your eyes. You knew it was bad to fall asleep with a cough drop in your mouth because it left those dried out fuzzy spots in your mouth, but you don’t care right now. It was helping keep the pain subdued, so you decide you’d just deal with it when you woke up.

You heard Bro walk in the room, but you don’t open your eyes. He probably thought you were asleep. You hear him sigh and sit on the edge of the bed. You turn over to your other side and you feel him freeze on the bed.

“Bro?” You ask quietly, opening one eye to look at him.

“Yeah, Dave?” He looks back at you and you notice his shades are off. He hardly ever takes them off. Huh.

Bright orange eyes look back into your own red eye. His eyes seem to glow brighter because of the orange-ish light coming from the nightlight. You shake your head a bit and he crawls over you on to the other half of the bed.

You look at him questioningly through your opened eye, but he says nothing. Instead, he wraps his arms around you and pulls you close, cuddling. You close your eye and nuzzle into his chest.

It’s been quite a while since he’s held you like this. It was probably because you were growing up... You thought to yourself about how much you would miss this when you were older.

Seeming to read your thoughts, Bro held you closer, kissing your head.

“I’ll keep you safe and take care of you, no matter how much of a shit you grow up to be,” You don’t have to look at him to know that he’s smiling one of his rare smiles, but he meant what he said. He always did.

“I love you, Bro,” you say with a stifled yawn.

“Love ya too, little bro.” And with that, you fall asleep.

\--

When you wake hours later, you’re surprised to see Bro still holding you close to his chest. Usually, he would have left before you woke, but it seems he fell asleep holding you.

You hold back a giggle. Bro’s mouth was open slightly, a bit of drool coming out of his mouth. He looked silly, but really tired. You could see the darkness of the bags under his eyes.

Your room wasn’t dark like it was earlier. It was now considerably brighter with light pouring in in streams from the closed blinds. You crane your neck slightly and check the time. 11:45 AM.

Wow. You and Bro had slept for five hours and fifteen minutes. You look back at Bro to see him still asleep.

You begin to slowly wiggle out of his cuddle-hold, looking up every so often to make sure you hadn’t woken him.

After a good five minutes of slow wiggling, you finally made it out of Bro’s grip. You yawn, but abruptly stop as tears come to your eyes. The pain in your throat is far worse now. You wonder if it really even _is_ coming from your throat.

You turn and grab one of the cough drops from the pile on your nightstand. You open it and quickly put it in your mouth. The soothingness never comes, no matter how much you suck on it. You even realize just _swallowing your spit_ causes more pain than not.

Quickly, you spit the medicinal drop into the trashcan by your door, and then hurry back over to Bro. You shake him. No result.

“Bro,” You barely manage to croak, your voice less than a whisper.

“Oh no,” You whisper before your voice cracks. You open your mouth and try screaming and talking, but they only come out high-pitched squeaks and breathiness. Fuck.

You begin to shake Bro with renewed force, trying to wake him. You let out an irritated squeaky groan when he still doesn’t wake. Why did he have to be such a heavy sleeper?

You huff breathily, propping up against the edge of the bed before promptly sliding down, folding your arms over your chest.

You then proceed to huddle your legs against your chest, leaning your crossed arms onto your knees, supporting your chin with your arms. You mumble under your breath, even though it’s pointless since you _can’t_ _even talk._

God dammit, Bro.

 _Just wake up already!_ you want to scream, but can’t.

You lay your forehead on your arms, trying to figure out what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm slowly figuring out how to format it and everything, but it's still a bit confusing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the chapter being so short, but it seemed better to make this short instead of stretching it out. The next chapter is longer, though!

**== > Try to wake Bro up**

After sitting in the same position for nearly ten minutes, you decide to go to action.

Plan _Wake Up Bro_ was a go. You turned towards the bed, getting on to your knees. You pressed your chin against the edge of the bed.

You reached out a hand and pressed it to Bro’s cheek. It was warm, but he didn’t wake up. You figured that.

You then begin poking his cheek repeatedly, each poke deliberately becoming harder. When that doesn’t work, you frown and start lightly slapping his cheek.

Nothing.

Dammit.

You start poking his sides, stomach, trying to get him to wake up. Nothing. No reaction. Not even the slightest of movements.

You scowl, climbing back on the bed. You begin jumping on the divan, jumping numerous times on to Bro.

You pause as you ready yourself for another attack as you see Bro stir. You wait for him to wake, but instead he rolls over to his other side. You throw your hands up, irritated.

Time to do it the old fashion way.

You hop casually off the bed and make your way to the kitchen. Pulling one of the chairs over, you set it near the marble-top counters, climbing on top of the chair. Once settled, you reach up, opening one of the cabinets.

Wrong cabinets. These cabinets are filled with boxes upon boxes of mac-n-cheese, raviolis and a shit ton of other food you don’t recognize, but you did notice a box with the _Betty Crocker_ label on it and you grimace before closing the cabinet and hopping off the chair.

You land gracefully on your feet; Bro’s training was already beginning to pay off, it seems. Nodding approvingly, you push the chair (you’re too lazy to drag it and plus it’s heavy as fuck) to the cabinets nearer to the sink.

Once the chair is repositioned, you back on top of it, you throw open the cupboards. Success. There are shelves filled with different sized cups, some glass, and some plastic.

You grab one of the tall, glass cups before setting it on the counter and carefully get off the chair, putting it back in place. Bro would kill you if you broke any of this shit; he’d had some of them longer than you’d been alive and most of them couldn’t be replaced, and if they could, it was expensive as fuck.

You then grab the cup off the counter and turn the faucet on, filling the cup with icy water. You decide to be an asshole and even put a few ice cubes into the already cold water. You snicker breathily. This ought to wake him up. If it didn’t, well... You’d be out of ideas.

You walk slowly towards the room so you don’t spill any water on the floor. Once in your room, you walk over to where Bro is still sleeping.

You begin to raise the cup, about to pour the water. Right as you tilt the cup, a drop of water about to spill out, a hand snatches at your wrist and holds the cup in place, keeping you from pouring the icy water.

You gulp slightly and turn your gaze downwards towards the bed. There was Bro, awake and looking pissed, as if he had been feigning sleep the entire time you had been trying to wake him up.

_Shit._


	4. Chapter 4

**== > Strife**

“What do you think you’re doing, kid?” Bro asks you, a harsh note in his voice. You can feel your hand beginning to tremble.

You open your mouth to speak, but only a squeak comes out instead.

“Stop fucking around, you little shit. Why were you about to pour this on me?” The anger grew in his voice. You shake your head, trying to show that you can’t speak at the moment, but Bro doesn’t seem to get the message.

Bro’s eyes narrowed and in one swift movement, he had taken the glass of water and dumped it on your head. Your body stiffens as the freezing liquid hits you. It was as if you’d gone swimming in an ice lake. You instantly begin to shiver, bangs covering your left eye, random pieces of hair sticking to your face, clothes drenched down to your underwear.

A satisfied smirk forms on Bro’s lips as he lays back down on your bed, hands behind his head. You glare at him.

Oh, it was _on_ now.

You let out a squeaky yell as you run forward. Bro pays no mind to you as you launch yourself towards him. When you were an arm length away, he held out his hand and flicked your forehead so hard you stumbled back slightly, eyes wide.

Was he _serious_ right now?

You let out a high-pitched and breathy growl before launching yourself at Bro once again. He was expecting this and stuck out his hand, but you were expecting this to happen. You ducked under his hand and flung yourself on to his chest, beginning to get him wet as well.

He lets out a groan of disgust before sitting up, almost flinging you off his chest. You grab two fistfuls of shirt and successfully cling. Unfortunately, Bro thought this would happen and was now beginning to pull on your hair hard, trying to yank you off.

You let out a shrill scream that cracks and fades off. You frantically kick your legs as Bro pulls harder, slowly but surely pulling you off him.

You continue to flail, increasingly so as the pain continues. At just this time, Bro about to pull once again, you kick him square in the jaw, making his mouth clamp down so hard his teeth clacked and you’re pretty sure he bit his tongue and drew blood.

_Take that_ , you think to yourself smugly. _That’s what you get for pulling my hair._

Bro snaps his attention from his wounded jaw back to you. Fuck. You’re so fucked.

But, instead of going to pull your hair again or make another move entirely, he lets you go, making you plop down on to the mattress. You look bemused as Bro looks at you, a grin slowly spreading across his lips.

“You learned to hold your own in a fight a lot faster than I did, kid.” So _that’s_ why he had started the fight. “Looks like you’re quickly progressing at becoming one of the best Striders, besides myself of course.”

You can’t help but give an airy giggle to this, thought it still hurts your throat. Which, now, was burning like the Fiery Pits of Hell.

“Now,” Bro’s smile slowly faded and his placid look returned. “Why didn’t you speak up?”

You sigh, shoulders heaving. You point to your throat and shake your head, but he still doesn’t get it. You slap your right palm against your face and drag it down in annoyance. You look at Bro once again to see one of his brows arched in question.

You get off the bed (which is slightly soaked from your previous tussle) and walk over to your backpack, pulling out a spiral notebook and pencil. You then hurriedly, and a bit messily, scribble down that you lost your voice for some reason. This causes Bro to frown.

“Seems like you’ve got Laryngitis.” He says almost matter-of-factly.

Now it was your turn to look confused.

“Well, it’s basically where your voice box gets infected with germs and you get a really bad cough and you sometimes lose your voice.” He explains. You nod a bit.

“Looks like you really do have to go to the doctor’s,” Your eyes widen immensely at this. You _absolutely hate_ the doctor’s office. There are a bunch of adults and kids there who are severely sick and they cough and sneeze and don’t even cover their mouths or wash their hands. You shudder.

You look at Bro pleadingly, but he just shakes his head.

“Sorry, little man. Gotta take you in. If I don’t, it could get worse and I’ve heard rumors you could actually become mute.”

You don’t know whether or not he’s joking, but you look horrified just the same.

“Hurry your ass up and get changed.” Bro adds before walking out of the room. “The sooner we get there, the shorter the wait.”

You bang your head multiple times against your mattress, grimacing, before going and getting changed.

You really hated the doctor’s office.


	5. Chapter 5

==> **Overcome your fear of the doctor’s**

                You sit in the car with Bro, resting your chin on the palm of your hand as you look out the window of the car. It was raining now, the skies dark and cloudy, lightning occasionally striking the ground in several places. You didn’t mind the rain, but you didn’t particularly like the sound of thunder that came moments after the lightning would strike.

You swallow thickly as you and Bro near the doctor’s office. You hated that place so much. Not only did you hate it, but you were afraid to go as well for many reasons. A lot of the times when you went, there were people extremely sick and had those things covering their mouths to stop the germs from spreading. Some people would cough up blood or suddenly throw up and one time a little girl only a few years older than you was laughing and the next thing you knew, she had puked all over you.

Another reason, and the main one, you were afraid of the doctor’s office was needles. You knew it was worse at hospitals, when people were dying left and right, but when you were at the hospital, they would stick IVs and needles in your arms and keep them there. You hated needles with a passion; even just getting a shot was bad.

You glance over at Bro as you two pulled into the parking lot of the doctor’s office. He gave you a smile before ruffling your hair lovingly. He reassured you it would be okay before walking inside with you. You glanced around at all the people and luckily it wasn’t crowded today.

You sighed in relief before going and sitting down in one of the hard black seats as your brother went and filled out some sheets, signing you in and letting the doctors know you needed to be seen. Soon enough, Bro was sitting next to you, hand on your shoulder.

“Don’t worry, kid, they’re just gonna check and make sure you’re okay and there’s nothing severely wrong, alright?” 

You nod before looking away, pushing up your shades. Within ten minutes of waiting, you were called back, a nurse taking your blood pressure and looking in your ears to make sure all of that was in good shape.

“The doctor will be with you in a moment.” She smiled before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her. You looked up at Bro with a sad look. You didn’t want the doctor to come. What if she had to give you a shot?

“It’s alright, Dave. They’re not gonna give you a shot.” He smiled. As he had just finished his sentence, the doctor walked in. She looked to be in about her mid-twenties, long and wavy brown hair, pink oval glasses and bright blue eyes. You looked at the nametag on her coat to see her name was Dr. Peixes.

“Hello!” She said happily. “You must be Dave, right? I’m Feferi and I’ll be your doctor today, alright?” She smiled, taking out her stethoscope and listening to your heart. 

She did the usual procedure that was needed when going to the doctor’s office before making you open your mouth, holding a popsicle stick to your tongue as she looked down your throat, using her specialized little flash light.

“Hm.. His throat is quite red.. How long has he not been able to talk?” She looked from you to Bro, throwing the popsicle stick away.

“About a day and a half, maybe two days.”

She tapped her chin, thinking to herself. After a moment, she wrote a prescription on a piece of paper and handed it to him. “He most likely does have Laryngitis. This should help. If anything gets any worse, come see me.” She then looked at you.

“You were brave today! When you’re leaving, have your brother tell one of the receptionists and you can have a sticker.” She mused before messing with your hair and walking out of the room. 

You smile proudly, walking out of the room. You were given a sticker as promised, one of a bird, and you got in the car with Bro afterwards, going to go have your medicine filled.

“I’m proud of you, little man. You didn’t even cry this time. As a treat, we can get ice cream. How’s that sound?”

You grin at his offer as he chuckles. You two get the prescription filled at Wal-Mart and then head over to Dairy Queen and grab some ice cream before heading home.

As you sat in the car, eating your vanilla ice cream cone, you couldn’t take the smile from your lips, thinking about how you had overcome your fear that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look guys, I finally updated woo! Now, sorry for this being so short; I had to write this during the middle of class in twenty minutes. This'll be the only time I update for awhile ebcause I'm going on Hiatus since school is over tomorrow! I hope you guys'll be ready for all the chapters I have in store for when I return!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a long hiatus, the awaited chapter!

**== >**  **Returning**  

 

After about a week and a half, you got better. Your throat didn't hurt anymore and you wanted to see Terezi and everyone else. During the time you had been sick, Bro had been helping with your homework, so you were technically still caught up with the rest of the kids.

When you had shown signs of getting better, Bro had gone back to training you. The training had slowly gotten harder, but you didn't care. The more you trained and practiced, the better you got and you wanted to one day be able to actually beat Bro without him going easy on you. That would be the day.

Anyway, you were finally able to go back to school today and you were fairly excited. After dropping your homework off at the office, Bro walked with you to class. When you reached the class, you looked up at him and he gave you a smile.

"Have a good day, all right? If anyone messes with you, tell me and I'll kick their asses. That's a promise." He ruffled your hair and you giggled. Bro always kept his word.

You said your goodbyes and once he was gone, you turned and opened the classroom door.

Only to be met with the most gorgeous blue eyes you had ever seen.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**== > New Student**

Your name is John Egbert and you almost ran into this kid in front of you. Who was he anyway? You looked him over for a moment.

The boy in front of you had really light blond hair, eyes hidden behind huge triangle shades. Freckles littered his cheeks, nose and ears. You were slightly smaller and shorter than him, but not by much.

"Hi!" you say happily.

"Um, hi," he replied quietly. You moved aside to let him in the class - luckily it was free time and the teacher seemed happy to see him- and he looked at you again.

"Who are you?"

"I'm John!" You grin.

"I'm Dave." He offers a small smile in turn.

You (slightly) drag him over to two free desks before sitting. He took out some markers and began drawing on the paper that was set out. You ask if you could draw with him and he shrugs, saying sure. You two draw for about a half hour before it's time to get back to work.

He decides to sit next to you and you two giggle every so often while working, talking to each other. 

You had made your first friend and you didn't feel lonely anymore.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since one of my closest friends has a lot of work to do in a very small bit of alotted time, I've dedicated this chapter to him.  
> You can finish in time, Kev!

 

**== > Initiate Playdate**

 

 A few months had passed and you and Dave had become quite good friends. He always had new drawings to show you - he told you that one day he was going to have his own comic and become famous for it, but you doubted it, having rolled your eyes when he first told you, earning a glare. You two always sat together when the opportunity arose - lunch time, play time, work time. In the few months that had passed, you two had become the best of friends.

Having always been bullied because of your thick glasses and buck teeth, even at a young age, it felt great to have a companion who wasn't like the others. True, you two did get into your spats at times and often called each other names jokingly, but it was different. You didn't know how to explain, but it just was. You always got a warm and fuzzy around Dave, but just put it off to being happy around him.

That day when Dave entered class, he was as happy as always, but was clutching something to his chest like his life depended on protecting it. As he walked over to you, his grip loosened slightly from it.

"Here," he said, handing the thing he had been holding to you. You looked slightly confused, but took it anyways. It looked like a plain manilla envelope, but upon closer inspection, there was a bunch of drawings inside. Most of them were of you two hanging out or giving each other high fives. One picture was different than the other. It showed you two, as all the others did, but it was better drawn. This _couldn't_ have been drawn by Dave. At the top of the page in scribbly handwriting, also not Dave's, were the words 'Playdate?'

You looked up at your bestie, only to have him looking a bit embarrassed.

"My Bro helped me draw it and that's his hand writing at the top." He replied to the questions that had been forming in your mind.

"So, you wanna hang out after school?" You asked happily, recieving a nod. A grin spread across your lips from ear to ear.

"That'd be cool! I'll just have to ask my dad, okay? After school meet me out front."

"Okay. Did you like the drawings I did?"

"I did, wanna see some of mine?" You grin, pulling out a few drawings of your own to show the other.

\--

When school was over, you waited patiently with your dad at the front of the school. Your dad was always punctual. You had shown him the drawings and asked about going to Dave's house and he smiled and nodded, saying "We'll see" every few minutes when you brought it up again.

After twenty minutes, you started growing upset, believing Dave wouldn't come. Just as you sighed and turned away, a familiar voice called your name.

"John!"

You turned to see Dave, walking with a man who must have been his older brother. He was tall, a bit taller than your dad, and had a bit of facial hair on his chin. Most of his blond hair was covered by a baseball hat and his eyes were hidden by the same shades Dave wore. Your eyes lit up as you saw them.

"Dave! I thought you weren't coming!"

"Yeah? I could tell. I'm glad we made it before you left though, hehe." You smiled after he said this.

Your dad and Dave's bro introduced themsleves, having conversations that were quite boring to you, but after thirty minutes of them talking, they finally reached an agreement. Dave's bro got down in front of Dave, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright little man, John's dad said you could go over and even spend the night since it's Friday. You better be good, got it?" His voice was calm. Dave nodded excitedly.

"I will, promise."

"Cool," Bro stood up, ruffling his little brother's hair.

You began jumping up and down excitedly, making your dad laugh.

"Alright, alright. Calm down before you accidentally hurt yourself."

You smiled sheepishly and stopped, Dave giggling softly.

Bro watched you all leave, waving. You and Dave both waved back before getting in the car and chatting excitedly with each other.

You both agreed this was going to be an exciting night.


	9. Chapter 9

 

**== > And The Fun Begins**

You are now Dave Strider and you are currently on your way to your best friend's house. You were extremely excited, having never been to any one else's house before. You'd never had a sleep over either! You and John had stopped talking now, his dad playing the radio. You hummed along to a lot of the songs, knowing the tune but not the words. You stared out the car window, enjoying the site. You'd never been down here before, and it was really nice, a lot nicer than where you lived. Bro had just lost his job recently and was trying to find another, which is why you couldn't be home schooled anymore, but now, you didn't mind. If you hadn't started public school, you never would have met John.

A car ride of fifteen minutes passes before John's dad finally pulls into the driveway of a really nice house. It was big, two stories, and there was a swingset and a ghost pogorider in the middle of the yard. You got out of the car, a little slack-jawed. John giggled at you.

"Close your mouth or you'll catch flies, stupid!"

You quickly clamped your mouth closed, cheeks flushing a bit darkly form embarrassment.

When you got inside, you saw the house was neatly furnished, a bunch of pictures of John with his dad hanging up everywhere, a few with just John playing the piano. You accidentally bumped into the railing of the stairs, having not paid attention. You rubbed your jaw slightly, which had smacked right into it.

"You okay?" John asked, a bit concerned.

"Yeah, fine."

"Okay. Come upstairs with me, that's where my room is!" He ran up the stairs and you followed close behind, curious to see what your friend's room looked like.

You weren't disappointed at what you saw. In the corner of the room was a huge trunk filled with toys. All around the room were posters of movies John liked, legos on a desk and a bed that had designs of stars on the sheets. You grinned as you looked around, going over to the desk and grabbing the container of legos before sitting down in the middle of the room, John sitting across from you.

"This is neat. I wish I had legos at home."

"You don't have legos??" John looked awestruck and you simply shook your head.

"Nah. Bro doesn't like buying them for me anymore since one time I accidentally left them out and he stepped on them." You explain. John nodded in understanding before going quiet as you two began building with the legos.

A few hours passed with you two playing and you hadn't even realized how much time had passed until John's dad called you both down for dinner. He had made chicken with mac-n-cheese and corn for dinner. Oh hell yes. Mac-n-cheese was your favorite. As you sat down across from John at the table, Mr. Egbert served everyone's plates.

"What would you boys like to drink? I don't have soda, unfortunately, Dave."

"Oh, that's okay. Do you have apple juice?"

"I sure do," he smiled, pouring you a cup. Sweet. "John?"

"Milk please." John chimed in happily.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, Mr. Egbert gave you both small slices of cake. You thanked him, eating it happily. It had been awhile since you had had good home made cake. When the both of you were finished, John took you back upstairs and showed you were the bathroom was, grabbing his toothbrush and brushed his teeth. You stood there awkwardly and watched him, having not brought one.

"Oh, here!" John said, toothpaste around his mouth as he handed you a brand new toothbrush. You took it gratefully, standing next to him and brushing your teeth as well.

You went back to his room afterwards, playing for awhile longer. It was around nine when John's dad came up to tell you it was time for bed. You both pouted. He laughed. You looked up at him and noticed he looked a lot like John, but without the glasses and dressed proper when going out places.

"Just a bit longer dad, please?" John begged.

"Oh fine, what the heck." Mr. Egbert smiled a bit. "Ten more minutes, then time for bed."

You nodded appreciatively, going back to the battle you and John had been having between two action figures.

The ten minutes seemed to fly by, but neither of you complained when told time for bed. John got on the bed first, scooting over to make room for you. You hopped up on the bed and laid down next to him. He snuggled against your chest, closing his eyes. You got a fuzzy feeling in your chest then and closed your eyes happily.

"Good night Dave," John yawned.

"Night, you dork." You replied quietly and drifted off to sleep with John cuddled close.


	10. Chapter 10

                                                                                                   **== > ****Going Home**

 

When John wakes you, it's around eight thirty. You open your eyes groggily, letting out a yawn. You weren't one for waking up early in the mornings, seeing as you usually slept in till around eleven from staying up late with Bro watching movies or training.

When you sat up, your hair was a mess and John was nowhere to be seen in the room.

You huffed slightly before putting your shades on and walking out of the bedroom and to the bathroom. You knock on the closed door before entering, and brush your teethand try to subdue your tornado of hair. When you finally make your way downstairs, you're now fully awake and no longer tired. Mr. Egbert's in the kitchen, sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the morning newspaper, John sitting right next to him and chowing down on a bowl of cereal.

"Morning, Dave." John's dad gives you a small smile before folding up his newspaper and setting it down. "Would you like some cereal?"

You nod, covering your mouth to stifle a yawn. John is slurping away at his cereal and you roll your eyes as a clean bowl, spoon and glass are set down in front of you. You're asked what kind of cereal you'd like and what you'd want to drink and you take orange juice and fruit loops.

You two have a race to see who can finish first and somehow you win, though you ended up spilling milk down your shirt several times.

You and John wash the milk and cereal from your faces, floor and table (you two had ended uphaving a food fight and Joihn had dumped cereal in your hair).

Mr. Egbert lets you stay a while longer to play with John, till around eleven, but then he says it's about time you had gone home. You give a soft, disappointed look, John pouting a little.

"Now, now, John. Maybe you two can hang out again next weekend. How's that sound?"

You both perk up at that and you gather your things before settling into the back seats of the car with John. All the way back to your house, the two of you chatter excitedly, smiles never leaving your faces.

Once at your house, John and his dad walk you to the door. Bro's there, standing in the doorway when the doorbell is rang. He was fast at answering the door.

"Well, I'll see you later," you murmur softly.

"Yeah.. Bye Dave!" John gives you a quick hug before skipping along with his dad back to the car. You give a final wave as they pull out of the drive way, then drive away.

Bro messes up your hair, making you retort in portest, which only gained you a grin from him in response.

"Did you have fun?"

You nod as you walk inside with him. He messed with your hair again before settling down on the couch with you and putting on a movie.

You hoped you could spend the night at John's house again soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for my updates being really slow lately. school is getting hard and I've had a lot of work lately! I should be going on independent study soon, though, so maybe things'll speed up here soon!


	11. Chapter 11

                                                                                             **== > Unexpected Move**

 

Your name is John Egbert and you have just recieved some bad news.

You had been living in Texas for a few years now and had enjoyed it quite well. You had been friends with Dave since third grade -you were in sixth grade now- and you two seemed imseperable. You would hang out with him every weekend, either him at your house or you at his. He had been the first friend you'd ever made and it was great to have someone who you could finally enjoy spending time with that wasn't your own family.

But now, that only luxury was being ripped away from you. Your dad had been offered a promotion at his job and it paid well, so he was happy to accept. You had been happy for him, until you found out that the new promotion would require you moving.

You had been in your room, watching Ghostbusters when he'd told you the news. You grew upset, beggining him to please not move, that you couldn't bear to leave Texas. You'd meet so many people and had grown close to Terezi and Dave. Your dad apologized several times before leaving the room.

That had been a few hours ago, and here you were, still sitting in your room, pouting. You knew it couldn't be helped, seeing as if he had the choice, he wouldn't make the move. But, he needed to.

You let out a sigh before falling back on your bed.

 

\--

At school the next day, you tell Dave about the move and he grows upset, moreso than you had.  You apologize to him and he punches you in the arm asying, "Don't apologize for what isn't your fault, idiot."

You two cut class and spend the whole day together. He takes you down to the lake a few blocks from the school and you throw bread at the ducks until Dave threw a full piece of bread at one duck and then it began to chase you both until you left. After that, you go out for ice cream and then to the park.

You spend hours together and you don't realize how fast the day has gone by. You look at your Little Monsters watch and give a yelp when you see the time.

"Oh crud, I didn't know it was so late already!" Dave gives you a questioning look and you show him that it's six fifteen. He lets out a groan, dragging a hand down his face.

"Man, I don't want you to leave.."

"I know, me either... I wish we weren't leaving tomorrow, you know?" You look at him and he gives a nod. He takes out a pen from his jacket pocket and grabs your hand.

You look confused. "Dave, what're you...?"

"My house number." He replies after finishing scribbling eight digits on to your hand. "You better be sure to call and keep me up to speed with things." He gives a soft squint and you laugh.

"I will, I will." You give him a hug and he returns it tightly. You let the embrace last for awhile before pulling away. You gave a nod before beginning the walk home, Dave walking in the other direction.

You hadn't realized it, but you'd begun crying and you wiped at your tears furiously with the sleeve of your sweater.

You'd miss all the cool places, the food, and even the lame ducks at the lake. But out of it all, you'd miss your best friend the most.

This move was unexpected and you hated it. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that, a new chapter update at last!!

**== > New House**

  
  
  


The move was hard on you. You grew sad and refused to go and hang out over Summer vacation. The only thing that seemed to cheer you up was when you would call Dave. Often, you would be greeted by the friendly voice of Bro, before being able to talk to Dave.

Currently, you had just finished coloring a picture of you and your dad in your new house. You had gotten used to living in Washington now, having lived here for almost month. You still missed all your old friends, though. You sighed and picked up the picture before going downstairs.

Your dad was in the kitchen and he smiled at you lovingly, which you happily returned before pushing up your glasses and putting the picture on to the fridge, making it stay put with a small letter J magnet.

“I’m gonna go call Dave!” You say happily before hurrying back up to your room. There were three house phones; one in your room, one in your dad’s room, and one downstairs in the kitchen.

When you returned to your room, you plopped down on to your bed, kicking your feet. You pick up the phone and hold it to your ear and dial the number you had now memorized, biting your lower lip as you heard the familiar ringing on the line.

It took about four rings before someone finally picked up on the other line. “Hello?” Bro asked, sounding distracted.

“Is Dave there?” You ask politely.

“Aw shit, sorry, kiddo. Dave’s at a friend’s house right now.” Bro said apologetically. “As soon as he gets home I’ll tell him to call you, alright?”

You tried not to sound disappointed and held back a sigh. “Alright, thanks.” You hung up the phone and pouted, resting your chin against your knuckles, upset.

You had noticed lately that over the past weeks, Dave had been talking to you less and less and hanging out with other people. You know you shouldn’t be getting mad, but he was your only friend and you didn’t want him to stop being your friend just because you moved.

You sighed then, slipping on your sneakers after getting off the bed. Might as well go outside and play while you wait, you thought to yourself. After you had put your shoes on, you took the stairs two at a time until you reached the living room, opening the back door and going outside.

You hurriedly run over to your swing set, taking several times before you were actually able to successfully get on. You began swinging your legs, giving yourself momentum. It was about ten minutes later that a large moving truck parked near the driveway of the house right across the street.

A new neighbor? Taking interest, you jump off the swing, landing on your knees and hands. Brushing yourself off, you look both ways before crossing the street.

It seemed a young mother was moving in with her child, who was currently no where to be seen. You searched the yard before turning to go back to your own house, only to see a girl standing in front of you.

“Ah!” You shout in surprise, stumbling back. The girl giggled and when you stood back up, you were able to get a good look at her. The girl had short cropped ginger hair and freckles covering her olive skin, along with bright olive green eyes. She wore a pair of light blue jean shorts, flip flops and a plain brown tee, a small blue cat hat on her head and a cat plush in her arms.

“Who’re you?” She asked happily.

“I-I’m John,” you manage out. “I live across the street.”

Her eyes brightened at that. “Oh, really? I’m Nepeta! Do you wanna play for a little bit?”

You were surprised at the offer, but didn’t decline. You had never met anyone so willing to play with you before. She led you to a small plastic table that had been set down in the front yard and set her cat plush on it.

You played tag and a few other games for a bit, heart swelling when you got to explain something she didn’t know. You didn’t know how much time had passed, but soon you saw your dad walking over with a small pie in his hands.

“Oh, I’ve see you met our new neighbors, son,” your dad says happily before handing the pie over to Nepeta’s mother. They chatted for a bit and all too soon, you felt yourself dozing off and then in the arms of your father as he carried you back to the house.

“Bye, Nepeta,” you call out sleepily and you think she calls out a reply, but you can’t tell as you’re burying your face into your dad’s chest. When he put you in bed, you soon fell asleep, completely forgetting to try and call Dave back.

**Author's Note:**

> edit!: this fic will be discontinued and this will not be updated, but a revamp is in the works. thanks for reading!


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